-The Indian Express The recent tweaks to the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, including making it 100% voluntary and capping premiums at 30%, are going to be a game-changer. The Centre has recently revamped the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) that will have far-reaching impact on the implementation of this flagship crop insurance scheme. Launched in the 2016 kharif season, PMFBY makes the insurance companies liable for full risk coverage. Farmers...

-The New Indian Express The authors conclude that the record pace of poverty reduction was due to high growth rate. Only 84 million (8.4 crore) Indians are poor as on 2017 down from 270 million in 2011, claims a new study. It also states that poverty, as per the Tendulkar Poverty line, reduced from 14.9 per cent in 2011 to 7.0 per cent in 2017 -- the fastest pace the country has seen...

-Down to Earth Rising temperatures due to climate change may be compounding the stress on crops in multiple ways, it says Insect attacks are becoming stronger with rising temperatures and plants are not able to cope with the double whammy from pests and rising heat. These are the findings of a recent study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study reinforces previous findings that persistent warm and...

-Down to Earth The record-breaking vegetable price rise indicates an era of high food inflation in coming years Rising prices of food items, particularly that of vegetables, have spiked retail inflation to a 68-month high of 7.59 per cent in January 2020, according to the National Statistical Office. While the inflation figure captured headlines, a crucial analysis of the reasons behind this sustained increase in food prices slipped public attention. Extreme weather events...

-IANS According to Rajan Wadhera, President of industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), which gives out the auto sales numbers, the overall slump in vehicle sales in India was due to the 'rising cost of vehicle ownership and slower growth in GDP'. Cheaper lending rates in the country along with the government's booster via tax cuts seem to have had little effect on vehicle sales in January, with car sales...